CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
September 25, 2001 | KIMI YOSHINO, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Investigators are looking into whether weight was a factor in the death of a woman who fell from a steep water ride Friday at Knott's Berry Farm. Lori Mason-Larez, 40, of Duarte fell from the Perilous Plunge ride as it dropped 115 feet at up to 50 mph. The mother of five slipped from both a seat belt and lap bar and fell to the water below.
BUSINESS
June 23, 2007 | From Times Wire Services
Six Flags Inc., the second-biggest U.S. theme-park operator, closed a free-fall ride at four of its parks after a cable snapped on the attraction at its Louisville, Ky., park and severed the feet of a 13-year-old girl. Cedar Fair, operator of amusement parks including Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, said it temporarily shut down five similar rides at its locations. Rides at Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags' Magic Mountain in Valencia were not affected.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 10, 2001 | From Times Staff Reports
The family of a woman who died after falling from a flume ride filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Tuesday against Knott's Berry Farm and the maker of the Perilous Plunge. Lori Mason Larez, 40, of Duarte died Sept. 21 after slipping from the ride's seat belt and lap bar as her "boat" made its steepest decline, dropping 115 feet at up to 50 mph. The suit accuses the park and the Perilous Plunge maker, Intamin Co., of wrongful death and negligent design and operation of the ride.
BUSINESS
December 17, 1991
Six Flags Magic Mountain says it plans to open another roller coaster, a $4-million ride called Flashback, next spring. It would become the eighth coaster at the Valencia theme park. The Flashback, a steel coaster with six 180-degree swooping vertical dives, would provide a 1 1/2-minute ride and accommodate up to 1,100 riders per hour. The coaster is being built by Intamin AG of Switzerland.
NEWS
May 4, 2012 | By Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Billed as the world's tallest water ride, the $26-million Divertical at Italy's Mirabilandia theme park will combine a shoot-the-chutes flume and a roller coaster track with an offshore powerboat racing theme. PHOTOS: Divertical water coaster at Mirabilandia Debuting June 16, the Divertical water coaster will feature an innovative elevator lift system that carries the 10-person boats to the top of the 197-foot-tall ride. From there, riders will descend a 45-degree water flume at speeds topping 65 mph. After a tidal wave-like splash, the train will continue along a coaster track over air-time hills and hairpin turns before dropping into a second splashdown pool.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 28, 2010 | By Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times
A state investigation found that a 2009 roller coaster accident that injured two riders at Knott's Berry Farm could have been prevented with proper maintenance, casting blame on both the theme park and the ride manufacturer. Xcelerator, a $13-million, hydraulic-launch accelerator coaster that opened at the Buena Park theme park in 2002, reopened Monday evening after Knott's made modifications required by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. In a statement, the theme park said the state's report "identified shortcomings in the manufacturer's instructions regarding the inspection and maintenance of the cable" and that the state agency had "required Knott's Berry Farm to put into place additional safeguards to determine cable viability and to work with the manufacturer to revise maintenance instructions."